Constant full mesh gearing



Feb 26, 1957 Filed March 9, 1955 C. T. TURNER ETA-L CONSTANT FULL MESH GEARING 5 Sheets-Sheet l A? I I 9 2% W5C g I, 1 1 Q CI {IN it i;

amm mu lmnlmm mm mmm 1M 7 N m l c. T. TURNER ErAL 2,782,653 CONSTANT FULL MESH GEARING Feb. 26, 1957 Filed March 9, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR GHARLES T. TURNER ORVILLELAPPLER L BY JWfiW ATTORNEYS Ebb. 26, 1957 c, T TURNER ETAL 2,782,653

CONSTANT FULL MESH GEARING Filed March 9, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEYS INVENTOR @MARLE$ T. TURNER 4? UFWQLLLE LAPPLER BY I ,JW fl/W Feb. 26, 1957 c, T, TURNER EIAL 2,782,653

CONSTANT FULL MESH GEARING Filed March 9, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVEN'fOR CHARLES R TURNE awn LLE LAPPLR 2,782,653 CONSTANT FULL MESH GEARING,

Charles T. Turner and Orville L. Appler, assignors to Flynn & Emrich (10., corporation of Maryland Baltimore, Md., Baltimore, Md, :1

The present invention relates primarily to rotary machines, having rotatable shafts on which cylinders or other rotating members are carried, and such members are adapted for coaction with one another to perform a desired function such, for example, as printing machines, cutting or slotting devices, sheet or web feeders or the like.

More specifically, as one possible use, the present invention relates to printing and slotting machines adapted to take a sheet of corrugated board and in a series of operations, print, cut, crease and/or other operations, whereby, when the corrugated board is removed from the machine, corrugated board boxes can be easily and quiclga ly assembled from blanks so treated.

In printer slotter machines of this character, it is necessary to provide for shifting or adjusting the rotary members and their shafts, so as to increase or decrease the space between the coacting rollers or members. One method of providing for such adjustment is to mount the shaft ends of one of a pair of rollers in eccentric bearing blocks, whereby upon rotation of the bearing blocks through a gearing arrangement, the shaft, and accordingly the roller carried thereby, is selectively spaced from the other roller which has a shaft in fixed position with respect to the frame of the machine.

Another adjustment which is required is to vary slightly the angular relationship of one eccentric bearing block with respect to the other in order to attain or restore proper alignment and insure correct functioning of the machine.

The adjustments referred to a minor degree, provision being made as is usual in such machines, for major changes through mechanism not necessary for the present description;

In such machines, one of the major problems is to permit such adjustment of the rollers, while at the same time preserving permanent mesh of all gears involved to insure proper and correct drive of all of the rolls involved. In machines of the nature of printer slotters, for forming box blanks from sheet materials of different thicknesses, there are usually provided, as is well known in the art, a pair of feed rollers for the sheet, one or more pairs of: printing and impression rollers for imprinting on a sheet, a pair of scoring rollers, a pair of slotting rollers, a roller to permit varitflls other operations on the sheet such as creasing. It is necessary to relatively adjust many of these rollers, if not ali, in accordance with he t ic ness 9 he nk operated upsn 9 a s P id P e ee i p i t n sco in crea n c tt ng etc. The present invention contemplates adjustment of one roller of each, or all of the pairs of rollers, in a printer slotter machine, as well as in all types of machinery of a similar nature.

In operation, all of such machinesutilize means for transmitting power to the entire chain of rollers through a t a n at sea s.- Headers sl fiasm t s of mes isms ha e e ut l zed to i s r the Pr r 9 .1 a or permanent mesh of the various gears in the train above are in practice of 2,782,653 Patented Feb. 26 1957 of gears when the distance between the periphery of one roller, and some other elements, such as another roller is varied.

The main object of this invention is to provide a simple mechanism in which the gears are constantly in prep: er and accurate mesh regardless of the adjustment of the rollers with respect to the spacing of two in a pair, and which employs a minimum number of gears in a simple yet sturdy construction.

The outstanding advantage of the present invention is to permit one revolving roll, or part of a machine, to be directly geared to another revolving roll, or part of a ice between rolls, and at the same time all gearing between the two rolls will be kept in permanent mesh. The mechanism of the present invention provides meritorious advantages over other systems where all gearing remains in fixed axis and the change in the roller centers is compensated for through individual eccentric drives.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited in its application to printer slotter machines, which will be utilized to describe a working embodiment of the invention, since it is applicable to many types of machinery.

The permanent mesh gearing of the present invention can be utilized in all types of mechanism where the adjustable features between two rollers is required while at the same time it is necessary to maintain a permanent mesh between all gears in a driving train.

While the embodiment described in detail hereinafter utilizes eccentric hearings for supporting the rollers, the invention is not limited thereto since it may be used in connection with a vertical slide block bearing or bearings of various types as currently utilized in the art.

The following description of embodiments of the invention is directed to a mechanism used in printer slotter machines of a type well known in the art, and only such portions of the mechanism as are necessary to an understanding of the present invention are shown in the drawings and described in the specification.

The present invention will be more clearly understood from. the following detailed description when taken together with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view through a pair of coacting rollers;

Fig. 2 is an end View of the right hand side of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the shaft ad: justing means;

Fig. 5 is a view taken on line 55 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modification;

Fig. 7 is a view taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional detail taken on the l -8 of is- Fig, 9 is a fragmentary line 9-9 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 19 is a perspective view of the stud support shown in Figs. 2, 3; and 5; and

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary perspective view of the stud used in conjunction with the support shown in Fig. 10.

The primary purpose of the mechanism is to allow space adjustment between rolls, while at the same time preserving permanent mesh of all gears driving the rolls. In the drawings, side frames 10 and 11 of a machine are shown as mounting or supporting therethrough the shafts 12 and 13 of upper and lower rollers 14 and 15, respectively, of a coactir g pair which in the drawings, for the purposeofshowing a working embodiment of she innting onl con i ts of creas o rs a pr nte sectional detail taken on the drawings, these rollers can carry on the periphery thereof means for operating on a sheet of corrugated board or the like passing through the machine. This is only a single pair of rollers and manifestly, a plurality of such pairs are contem plated. Cutting means, for example, are broadly indicated at 16.

Bearing blocks 17 are secured to the side frames and 11 by means of studs 18, and support therein bearings (not shown) for rotatably mounting the shaft 12. The bearing blocks 17 are stationary with respect to the frame and accordingly the shaft 12 and upper roll 14 are in fixed position with respect to the frame.

Lower roller 15 is rotatably journalled at one end in bearing block 19 by means of a bearing, not shown. Bearing block 19 which carries the shaft 13 is eccentric and carries the bearing for the shaft 13 in an eccentric position. The bearing block 19 includes a collar 20 on the inner side of frame 10 secured thereto by means of bolts or the like, shown in dotted lines. The bearing block 19 passes through opening 22 in the frame 10 to permit its rotation.

In order to adjust the spacing between the shafts 12 and 13, and accordingly between the fixed roll 14 and lower adjustable roll 15, means are provided for rotating eccentric bearing block 19 to thereby vary the position of the bearing supporting shaft 13 with respect to the frame 10. Only a small amount of adjustment is required in order to compensate for different thicknesses of corrugated board sheets passing through the machine.

The means for rotating eccentric block 19 consists in a shaft 23 passing through openings 24 in the side frames 10 and 11 and mounted below the lower roll 15. The eccentric bearing block 19 has gear teeth 25 formed on the outer periphery thereof. The shaft 23 carries a spur gear 26 having teeth 27 meshing with teeth 25 on eccentric bearing block 19. Gear 26 is fixed with respect to shaft 23 and also serves as a positioning collar for the shaft 23. Means such as a hand wheel, crank or the like, not shown, are provided to rotate shaft 23 and accordingly through gear 26, the eccentric bearing block 19.

The other end of shaft 23 carries a gear 28 rotatably mounted thereon and having teeth in mesh with teeth on eccentric bearing block 29 supporting the other end of shaft 13. The gear 28 has an outer flange or gear hub 30 integral therewith.

The outer flange 30 plays a part in permitting alignment of the eccentric bearing blocks 19 and 29 which is necessary at times to the proper alignment and functioning of the machine. A circular carrier 31 corresponding to the size of outer flange 30 is keyed at 32 to the shaft. through while the flange 30 has tapped holes therethrough. Bolts 33 passing through the elongated holes and securing in the tapped holes in the flange 30 permit angular adjustment of the gear 28 with respect to the shaft 23 since the gear is not secured in a fixed manner to the shaft. Since the carrier 31 is secured to the shaft, when the bolts 33 are drawn tight, then gear 28 will rotate with the shaft, and at the same speed as gear 26.

The details of this construction are more clearly shown in Figure 4 wherein the tapped holes 34 in flange 30 are seen, as also the elongated arcuate holes 35 in carrier 31. The carrier 31 is keyed to shaft 23 by means of the key 32. This is a simple and easily operable means for adjusting or aligning the eccentric bearing blocks as will be apparent, and constitutes an important advantage of the present invention.

In order to drive the rolls 14 and 15, gears 37 and 38 are secured on the ends of shafts 12 and 13, respectively. Since the distance between the shafts 12 and 13 is adjustable, as hereinbefore set forth, these gears 37 and 38 cannot be directly connected with one another because proper permanent or constant mesh cannot be maintained upon adjustment of the rolls. The gear 37 is adapted to be driven by another gear in the gear train (not shown),

The carrier 31 has arcuate elongated holes thereand prevent the same from binding.

and in order to preserve continuity of the train, a further gear (not shown), is adapted to be driven by gear 37. The gearing shown in Figure 3 provides for the roll adjustment but keeps the driving gear 38 for the lower roller 15 in permanent mesh at all times. The gear 37 for driving the upper roll is in fixed position.

Gear 39 mounted on stub shaft assembly 40 is fixed in side frame 10 by means indicated at 41. The gear 39 is an idler gear having a fixed position. Gear 39 is in mesh with gear 37 at all times.

Gear 42 is a universal idler gear mounted on stud 43, which is fitted in gibways which are curved and permit arcuate movement of the stud, as also gear 42 carried thereby. The gibways 44 are formed by means of a stud support comprising a back plate 45 bolted directly to frame 10, as at 46, and outer plate 47 bolted to the back plate 45 at 48. The outer plate 47 has a curved guideway cut therein at 49 to provide gibways 44 of an arcuate nature. The base 50 of stud 43 is curved to fit these gibways. Accordingly, the stud 43 is free to slide in the gibways in an arcuate manner. When this sliding occurs, mesh will still be maintained between gears 39 and 42 as will be apparent.

Universal idler gear 42 is in mesh with gear 33, which drives lower roller 15 at all times as shown on the drawings. The gear 42 is linked to gear 38 by means of link 51 which is a horizontal link, and which passes around a projection, not shown, on the eccentric housing which is concentric to shaft 13, and stud 43 so as to maintain the distance between the gears equal at all times. Gear 39 is also linked to stud 43, carrying universal idler gear 42, by means of vertical link 52 and the distance between the center of shaft 40 and the center of stud 43 is, as appears hereinafter held constant. It will, therefore, be seen that gears 38 and 42 are held in constant mesh and gears 39 and 42 are also held in constant mesh.

The curved gibways 44 are curved concentric with the fixed center of gear 39 so as to maintain proper relationship between gears 39 and 42. Upon rotation of eccentric bearing block 19, the position of shaft 13 carrying gear 38 will change, but due to link 51 the stud 43 will slide in gibway 44 and carry therewith gear 42 so as to maintain gear 42 in proper mesh with gear 38. The link 52 in this embodiment of the invention does not serve as a guide to the universal gear stud but adds increased rigidity tothe universal gear stud 43 to counteract gear face pressure which would tend to push the faces of the gears apart.

As will be seen from the drawings, the link 52 for stud 43 is disposed at a slight angle to the vertical so that the included angle between the links 51, 52 is approximately 90 in order to facilitate proper sliding action of the stud The shapes of the members 45 and 47 are designed so as to facilitate mount ing in the machine, and to eliminate interference between various of the elements.

Figures 6 and 7 show a modified form of stud support comprising a back plate 53 carried on stud shaft 54 which is rotatably mounted in frame 10 and held in position by washer 55 and bolt 56. A clearance is provided between the inner edge of washer 55 and the frame 10 as seen in Figure 6. The plate 53 is accordingly rotatable with respect to the frame. A front plate 57 having a horizontal slot therein defining gibways at 58 is secured to plate 53 by bolts such as at 59. A gear stud 60 having a base 61, of commensurate shape and size with the slot in plate 57, is carried by the overall stud support of plates 53 and 59. The universal idler gear 42 is carried by this stud shaft 60 in the same manner as in the previously described embodiment. The center of the stud 60 is positioned slightly off center of the gear 62 so as to prevent rotation of the whole plate in its socket on shaft 54 but still permit a pivoting of plate 53. Vertical and horizontal links 52 and 51, respectively, surround the stud 60 in the same manner as in the previous embodiment. The relationship of the gears is otherwise the same. By means of the sliding action of base 61 of stud 60 and the rotating or pivoting action of plate 53, the universal gear stud, guided by the horizontal and vertical links is at all times perfectly located for permanent mesh of all driving gears for any position of roll adjustment of the lower roll 15.

Manifestly, minor details in constructional features will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A permanent mesh gearing system comprising a fixed position gear, a variable position gear spaced from said fixed position gear, a fixed position idler gear meshing with said fixed position gear, a universal idler gear meshing with said fixed position idler gear and with said variable position gear, a movable mount for said universal idler gear and means interconnecting said variable position gear with said universal idler gear and said universal idler gear with said fixed position idler gear whereby all said gears are maintained in permanent mesh.

2. A permanent mesh gearing system as claimed in claim 1, said movable mount comprising a stud support having a guideway therein, a stud mounting said universal gear, and a base on said stud slidably retained in said guideway.

3. A permanent mesh gearing system as claimed in claim 2, said guideway being arcuate and concentric with the axis of said fixed idler gear.

4. A permanent mesh gearing system as claimed in claim 3, said stud base being arcuately shaped and corresponding to the dimensions of said guideway.

5. A permanent mesh gearing system comprising a fixed position gear, a variable position gear spaced from said fixed position gear, a fixed position idler gear meshing with said fixed position gear, a universal idler gear meshing with said fixed position idler gear and with said variable position gear, a movable mount for said universal idler gear, and means interconnecting said variable position gear with said universal idler gear and said universal idler gear with said fixed position idler gear whereby all said gears are maintained in permanent mesh, said movable mount comprising a pivotable plate, a front plate secured to said pivotable plate and having a rectilinear slot therein forming with said pivotable plate a guideway, a stud mounting said universal gear, and a base on said stud slidably retained in said guideway.

6. A permanent mesh gearing system as claimed in claim 5, the center axis of said stud being offset with respect to the center axis of said universal gear to deter rotation of said pivotable plate.

7. In combination, a fixed position rotatable member, a variable position rotatable member, rotatable eccentric bearing means mounting said variable position member, means for rotating said eccentric bearing means for varying the distance between said members, said last named means comprising a rotatable shaft parallel to the axis of said variable position member, gears on each end of said variable position member, gears on the ends of said shaft meshing with the gears on said variable position member, one said gear on said shaft being fixed thereon, the other said gear on said shaft being rotatably mounted and having a flange thereon, a plate mounted on said shaft in abutment with said flange, said plate being keyed to said shaft, arcuate slots in said plate and bolts passing through said slots and being securable in said flange whereby the relative positions of said plate and said flange can be selectively adjusted to adjust the position of said flanged gear with respect to said shaft.

8. In combination, first and second spaced rotatable axially aligned eccentric bearing blocks, a rotatable shaft aligned with the axis of said blocks, gears on said blocks, gears on the ends of said shaft meshing with the gears on said blocks, one said gear on said shaft being fixed thereon, the other said gear on said shaft being rotatably mounted and having a flange thereon, a plate mounted on said shaft in abutment with said flange, said plate being keyed to said shaft, arcuate slots in said plate and bolts passing through said slots and being securable in said flange whereby the relative positions of said plate and said flange can be selectively adjusted to adjust the position of said flanged gear with respect to said shaft.

9. A permanent mesh gearing system comprising a fixed position gear, a variable position gear spaced from said fixed position gear, a fixed position idler gear meshing with said fixed position gear, a universal idler gear meshing with said fixed position idler gear and with said variable position gear, a movable mount for said universal idler gear, and means interconnecting said variable position gear with said universal idler gear and said universal idler gear with said fixed position gear whereby all said gears are maintained in permanent mesh, said movable mount comprising a stationary back plate, a front plate secured to said back plate, said front plate being provided with an arcuate slot concentric with said fixed position idler gear and coacting with said back plate to form an arcuate guideway, a plate-shaped base slidable in said guideway, and a stud provided on said base and having said universal idler gear rotatable thereon.

10. A permanent mesh gearing system comprising a frame, a fixed position shaft rotatable therein, a fixed position gear secured to said shaft, a variable position shaft movable in said frame toward and away from said fixed position shaft, a variable position gear secured to said variable position shaft, a fixed position idler gear mounted on said frame and meshing with said fixed position gear, a movable mount comprising a back plate carried by said frame, a front plate secured to said back plate, said front plate being provided with a slot and coacting with said back plate to form a guideway, a plateshaped base slidable in said guideway, a stud provided on said base, a universal idler gear rotatable on said stud, said universal idler gear meshing with said fixed position idler gear and with said variable position gear, and means interconnecting said stud with said fixed position idler gear and with said variable position shaft whereby all said gears are maintained in permanent mesh, said means comprising a pair of links mounted on said stud in angularly disposed relation, one of said links being connected to said fixed position idler gear and the other link being connected to said variable position shaft.

11. The system as defined in claim 10 together with eccentric means carried by said frame for adjusting said variable position shaft relative to said fixed position shaft.

12. The system as defined in claim 10 wherein said frame is provided in spaced relation from said fixed position shaft with a pair of aligned bearing openings, a pair of circular bearing blocks rotatably positioned in said openings and provided with eccentrically disposed bearing bores having said variable position shaft journalled therein, and means for simultaneously rotating said bearing blocks in said openings whereby to adjust the spacing of said variable position shaft from said fixed position shaft.

13. The combination as defined in claim 12 wherein said means for rotating said bearing blocks comprise gear teeth provided on the bearing blocks, an adjusting shaft rotatably mounted in said frame, and a pair of gears secured to said adjusting shaft and meshing with the teeth of the respective bearing blocks.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

